A fine WordPress.com site

Menu

2013 in a word — “Learning”, 2014? “Training”

Well, New Years day has come and gone and I’m sure I’m THE last to blog about it – same thing as being “fashionably late” no? Ok, no – I’ve just been a bit lazy. Then again, it is still January – I’m OK 🙂

With all of the things that I am excited about and need to update my blog about —- my running plans for 2014, and oh yes… 2014 is going to be epic! Several destination runs (including a run across the Grand Canyon and back), my first 50k of 2014, what the kids are up to, and then several other more serious topics that are stirring in me which I have to get out! I decided it’s just easier to start with a new year’s type of post…..

2013 was a heck of a year, aside from learning more about outward things such as: running, cycling, swimming, finances, gardening, home repairs, and unfortunately our judicial system, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about myself, relationships, about parenting and which battles to stand firm on and which really, in the grand scheme of things – are not all that important.

While the term “failure” sounds pretty harsh for lack of a better, more encompassing term, by definition, it is the best fit. In each one of these areas, in one way or another I’ve learned something through failures. Be them in DNF’ing a race, blowing my budget, a non-existent garden this year, in who I am and my take on things, in looking back at a journal I used to keep and realizing a real root cause of a problem I was having, or even in silly arguments I used to have with the kids over things that in hindsight were no big deal. With each failure I’ve grown and learned something.

So with 2013 being summed up as “learning”, my goal for 2014 is “training”. Training as in, not learning through failure but being properly prepared for success. A couple of nights ago I was laying in bed watching TV – The Aresenio Hall show. It’s sandwiched between two of my favorite things to watch – Fox 8 News and The Big Bang Theory. While the show is usually on just to pass time because I’m too lazy to reach over to grab the remote and change the channel, a segment came on that couldn’t have been more aptly timed. Malcolm Jamal Warner came on and I wasn’t reallypaying much attention at first but then, then it spoke to me. I thought “That’s it!”

Sorry about the video quality – the original link from the show for some reason switched to “private” and was no longer viewable…. This is the only other one I found.

“It’s only 25% physical. It’s really about the 25% mental, the 25% spiritual, the 25% emotional that I need to make sure that I could endure this obstacle course that the game of life leaves before me.”

I’ve been working on only 25% of the training I really need. It’s about time to strive for the other 75% that I’m missing out on.